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Summary

Born in 1928, Maurice Sendak was a sickly child who passed the time by sketching the children who were able to play in the street below his window. Sendak excelled in art during high school and found a job decorating store windows. When a book editor discovered his talent, Sendak's skill was much in demand as a storybook illustrator. Once he started writing books as well as illustrating them, Sendak's stories allowed children to experience places and journeys not often found in other books, including a magic land in Where the Wild Things Are , In the Night Kitchen 's noisy adventure, and a land in Outside Over There where a young girl must save her baby sister from goblins. Sendak continued to write and illustrate stories throughout his life, finding ways to introduce socially important themes to young readers. In a one-volume reference, Maurice Sendak details the life and real-life influences of this famous author, revealing the person behind the words, and the author behind the literature we love.

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "Teen who still remember reading Sendak's landmark children's books will welcome this literary biography in the Who Wrote That? series. With no condescension about kiddie lit, Marcovitz takes an in-depth look at Sendak's art, storytelling, sources, themes, and lasting influence, including extensive quotes from published interviews and literary criticism. The page design is attractive, with full-color art as well as boxed insets that focus on issues such as censorship (including the nudity in In the Night Kitchen), the Caldecott Medal, and Sendak's lifelong concern with the Holocaust. Sendak's authoritative commentary about the role of the illustrator (You must never illustrate exactly what is written. You must find a space in the text so that pictures can do the work ) is sure to spark discussion in creative-writing and art classes. Other books in the series include Will Hobbs. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2006 Booklist"From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.